Process of recovering laundry material



Filed March 16.

WITNESS A INVENTOR Th 4 FCSENfiU A TTOR NE YS Patented July 22, 1924.

r ED STATES L. ROSENAU, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

r'n o'onss or" sscdvssme LAUNDRY MATERIAL.

Application area Mafcli re, 1920. Serial no. 366,308.

To all whom? it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L; Rosnnao, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the cityv and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Process of Recovering Laundry Materials, of which the follow ing is a specification.

The invention relates to processes employed in the washing or laundering of clothes and other fabrics;

Th process of washing clothes and other fabrics comprises a plurality of washing and rinsing operations which are usually substantially as follows; The clothes" are placed in the washing machine into which the soapy water, known to the laundryman as suds, is introduced and the clothes are agitated in the suds for a sufficient time,

usually twenty minutes, to release the ad' hering dirt from the clothes. The dirty first suds are then discharged from the machine and run to waste. The clothes are then given the first rinse with soft water and after a suitable interval of time the first rinse water is discharged from the ma chine and run to waste.

The clothes are then given the second suds which are for the purpose of removing stains and material which has lodged Within the fibers of the fabric. After a suitable in terval of time, the second suds are discharged from the machine and flowed to waste. The clothes are then given three rinses, known as the second, third and fourth rinses, and the rinse water from these operations has also ordinarily been flowed to waste. The second rinse is a soft water rinse and the third and fourth rinses are hard water rinses.

An object of my invention is to recover and save, for reuse in subsequent laundry operations, a large proportion of the water, soap and water-softening material which is now flushed directly into the sewer.

Another object of my invention is to provide a process for removing from the retained water those materials which are deleterious to the washing operation, so that the retained water may be used for further washing operations.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following description, where I shall outline in full one embodiment of the process of my invention, as practiced in connection with the apparatus shown i-n'the accompanying drawing. In said description I shall describe one specific form of my process, but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such form, since the invention, as set forth in the claims, may be embodied in a'plurality of forms; p q

The drawing is a diagrammatic repre sentation of apparatus arranged to practice the process of my invention. v

In'acc'ordance with my invention, the first suds and the first rinse, both of which contain large quantities of dirt or other foreign matter, are discharged from the wash ing machines 2, through the conduit 3 to the sewer. All suds and rinses after the first rinse are saved and treated for re-use, thus effecting a'large saving in water, soap and water-softening material, The second suds, which are comparatively clean and which contain soap and softening material, are flowed from the washing machines, after the second washing operation, through the conduit 4 and the second, third and fourth rinses are also discharged from the washing machines through the conduit 4. The second rinse is a soft water rinse and contains soap and water-softening material. The third and fourth rinses are hard water or natural water from the wells or other source of supply. 7

The water and suds discharge from the conduit 4 into the filter tank 5, which is di- 90 vided into two compartments by the wall 6. The liquid passes downward in compartment 7 through the filter bed 8 of eXcelsior, which removes all lint and similar material and then passes up through the gravel bed 9 into the compartment 12. The liquid is then raised from compartment 12 by a suitable pump 13 and delivered into one of the settling tanks 14, which are preferably ar ranged inan elevated position. A plurality of tanks are preferably used so that material in one tank may be settling while the other tank is filling and also to provide a large storage capacity for the liquid. The liquid pumped into a settling tank is a mixture o f-suds, containing soap and water softening material, soft water and hard water. The water softening material solu tion reacts with the alkali in the hard water, causing the formation of gelatinous mate- For this purpose, each settling tank is pro- I vided adjacent the bottom with a spider having perforated arms and air under pres-- sure is delivered to these arms in sufficient quantity to agitate the entire solution in the tank. I have found that good results are obtained by agitating the solution with air for a period of four hours, after which the air is turned off and the material in the solution permitted to. settle. The time of settling varies with conditions and I have obtained complete settling in from 10 to hours.

As soon as the undesirable material has settled, it may be flushed from the bottom of the tank. The supernatant liquid, consisting of @water, soap and softening material and from which all undesirable materials have been removed, may then be used in subsequent washing operations. \When used as suds, additional soap and probably softening material is added thereto but it maybe used as the first rinse in the condition in which it is withdrawn from the settling tank.

I am not aware of the nature of the change which takes place in the liquid during agitation, but the effect of the air agitation is to cause the precipitation of solid and semisolid material in suspension, and apparently to reduce the causticity of the liquid, rendering it a very desirable washing liquid.

I claim: 7

l. The process of recovering soap, watersoftening material and water for're-use. in washing operations, which comprises flowing the second suds and subsequent rinses used in washing into a settling tank, treating the mixture to increase the specific gravity of-the impurities, .whereby the impurities are caused to settle and withdrawing the supernatant liquid for re-use.

2, The process of recovering soap, watersoftening material and water for re-use in washing operations, which comprises flowing-the second suds and subsequent rinses used in washing into a settling tan'ln'passing air through the mixture, allowing the mixture to remain quiescent. whereby the impurities settle and withdrawing the supernatantliquid for re-use.

' In testimony whereof, I have hereunto setmy hand.

- FRANK L'. ROSENAU. 

